- Published
Catie and Phil Allen should have been enjoying their first holiday in two-and-a-half years.
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Allen → publish → years
Instead, they are at home ringing round for refunds that won't be paid.
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that → ring → refunds
The couple are among the many thousands of air passengers caught up in the chaos caused by the four-hour shutdown of the UK's air traffic control system on Tuesday.
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couple → catch → Tuesday
It means their holiday to Slovenia has been cancelled and - although their flight was refunded by British Airways - they estimate being left £1,300 out of pocket from unused accommodation and excursions.
It's not the first time - and won't be the last - when passengers are left flying on a wing and a prayer after problems at UK airports.
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passengers → mean → airports
So, here is how their case relates to others, and why they have taken such a big hit.
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they → relate → hit
What gets repaid, and what doesn't?
Catie, 30, and Phil, 34, were sat on a British Airways flight to Ljubljana on Tuesday that never took off.
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that → repay → Tuesday
If a flight is cancelled, airlines must get customers to their destination as quickly as possible at no extra cost, even if it is with a rival carrier.
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it → cancel → carrier
Alternatively, passengers can take a refund, which should also be offered for flight delays of more than five hours.
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which → take → hours
In Catie and Phil's case, the alternative flight offered would not have arrived until Saturday morning - four days into their week-long holiday.
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flight → offer → holiday
So they took the refund.
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they → take → refund
The chatbot only seemed to allow them to rebook, and it took more than an hour waiting to speak to BA on the phone before the refund was confirmed.
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refund → seem → phone
It will take a week to be paid.
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It → take → week
When airlines are at fault, extra compensation is paid under UK and EU rules.
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compensation → pay → rules
Even so, airlines themselves are furious that they have been saddled with a bill of millions of pounds.
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they → saddle → pounds
BA also refunded the couple's car hire, which had been organised through the airline.
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which → refund → airline
The problem for the couple was that they had booked accommodation and excursions separately, and that is money they have lost.
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they → book → accommodation
Why are extras not refunded?
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extras → refund → ?
The hotel stays, booked separately, have their own terms and conditions and cancelling so late meant there were no refunds.
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cancelling → book → terms
One explained to Catie that they were a family business that could not afford to do so.
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that → explain → Catie
This is different to package holidays, which are covered in full if a flight is cancelled.
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flight → cover → holidays
"We feel we are penalised for trying to save money," said Catie, who contacted BBC Your Voice about their situation, although she added that "our problems are very small in the bigger scheme of things".
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problems → feel → things
One excursion was later refunded but - having worked in the aviation sector - Catie is annoyed that the air traffic problem extended so long as to ruin their holiday.
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problem → refund → holiday
"We have been saving tirelessly for this trip and we have lost over £1,000 with no way of getting it back.
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we → save → it
And most of all, we've got no holiday to go on, which we've been looking forward to for years," she said.
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she → get → years
Why won't travel insurers pay up?
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insurers → pay → ?
The couple said they have been loyal customers of their insurance company for years, and used them for policies ranging from home insurance to pet cover.
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they → say → cover
However, the insurer told them any claim on their travel insurance for the funds they have lost would be invalid because air traffic issues were outside of the policy.
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issues → tell → policy
Some people also make claims via credit card providers.
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people → make → providers
However, all these depend on the small print from providers.
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these → depend → providers
Why did others not get food or an overnight stay?
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others → get → food
Although the Allens could get back home after their flight was cancelled, others ended up sleeping on floors at Heathrow Airport.
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others → get → Airport
Delayed passengers must be supplied with food and a hotel stay, depending on the length of the wait.
Should the airline not provide them with this, then claims for reasonable expenses can be made afterwards.
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claims → supply → expenses
Experts suggest people keep receipts as proof.
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people → suggest → proof
The trouble was that many couldn't find accommodation anywhere nearby.
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many → find → accommodation
Booking a luxury stay is unlikely to be refunded by the airline, because only "reasonable expenses" are permitted.
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expenses → book → airline
On Thursday, Aviation Minister Keir Mather told MPs: "Passengers may also be entitled to care and assistance while waiting for a delayed or re-routed flight.
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Passengers → tell → flight
"But there are, of course, lots of incidences we have seen of airport capacity not being able to deal with the number of passengers being disrupted and I think that is a key lesson we have to learn from this."
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we → be → this
Mather said the kind of disruption cause by the failure of air traffic control provider Nats on Tuesday was "unacceptable".
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kind → say → Tuesday
Flight data firm Cirium said the aviation system had "stabilised significantly" on Thursday.
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system → say → Thursday
It said 54 of 3,028 scheduled arrivals had been cancelled or are not operating, while for departures, 47 of 3,033 scheduled flights were affected.
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flights → say → departures
The Aporia
